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Monday, November 11, 2013

North Gable And More Newels

This vertical beam for the north gable was placed late last week.
If you noticed it from the construction cam, you might have thought it was part of the tower base.
I think I can envision a gable here.
The grand staircase got some company this week.
You've seen the newel in the northwest tower,
And the newel in the southwest tower.
Now there is a newel in the northeast tower.
This last newel is in the southeast tower.
He was being directed to stand up straight.
Work progresses on the east side lift station.  Mr. Dashing Track Hoe moved this manway from the south entrance,
And elegantly carried him to the middle of the south lot.
The two manways were temporarily staged at the left, but the plan was to place them on the east side before the end of the day.
There are still plenty of parts for the south and east lift stations sitting at the south gate.
In the time it took me to walk from the south gate to the post office lot, the concrete pump drove into the lot and parked himself close to the east side and got to work.
The elevator base for the pavilion has been waterproofed.
More drainage pipes and gravel are being placed in the south lot.
I'm trying to envision the south lot covered with concrete instead of dirt.
More layers of the concrete sandwich were added to the west lot this morning.
This west area, like the south lot, will be for parking.
My camera found a robot in the mechanical shop.
He can be seen standing guard from the cam.
The tower caps need to be placed in conjunction with the structure of the roof being built.  This man worked on the southwest tower.
He drove around the upper level on his handy man lift to check out the southeast tower, too.
The next big milestone in the temple construction will be the completion of the annex roof.  The mysterious rolls which can been seen at the southwest tower base are tension cables. These particular cables will be used in the west lot roof and are just being stored for now.  The cables are inside plastic sheaths.  Once the concrete for the west lot roof has been poured, the cables will be pulled tight.  However, the main beams in the deck of the annex roof were constructed with rebar, made possible because the supporting columns are relatively close.  The tension cables will not be placed here. Notice that the new concrete slab on the west lot was covered with a blanket after I left the site to keep it warm tonight. 
The waffle plating now reaches the new foundation.  Notice the bump in the foundation wall just to the left of the center of this picture.  A hole where a pier protruded in that spot was covered with concrete.  I can't explain why all the pier openings haven't been covered. 
All the pier openings in each tower base have been filled in, and nicely, too, I must add.
Notice the red ladder and some workmen securing the forms in preparation for the roof pour.
The skylight area for the brides' room has been protected.
This man cleaning the rebar and waffle plates was making an unbelievable amount of noise which could be heard from Center Street.  In mentioning his housekeeping efforts, I have some blog housekeeping that needs to be addressed.  It seems that the update notification gadget on the right is not consistently working, and I have no control over it.  If you would like to be added to an email update list I will send out when I put up a new post, please send an email to newtempleinprovo, and then follow that with @gmail.com.  If you add a sentence, I'll know you aren't a bot.  You can always put your email address in the comment section below.  I won't post it, I promise.
Plywood coverings for the windows are being installed.
Plastic sheeting now covers all the openings in the lower level except for a workman's entrance.  The calendar says winter is coming, but our gorgeous fall weather has allowed the men to work comfortably for much of the day.
I have news of another fireside.  This next one will be held this coming Sunday, November 17th, at the Provo Sharon East Stake Center at 7 pm.  This building is one block north of the Provo Temple, at 2450 North 1060 East.  I plan to be there and take notes, in case you can't make it.
There are still grand things to come in the temple construction.
I took a little walk through the brand new Nu Skin building on my loop around the block today and thought you'd like to see their grandly finished building.

6 comments:

David said...

Thanks for this, Julie. The pillar makes more sense now.

You stated this above: "I do know that cables will run throughout the waffle plating. Once the concrete has been poured, the cables will be pulled tight."

Could you describe this in more detail? What is this process like? How is it different from other pours? Can we see a cable now? What will be pulling the cable tight? When will they be pulling it tight?

Julie Markham said...

Be patient with me -- I'm at the edge of my knowledge. This is like micropiles all over again. I have been told that these tension cables run through a plastic tube and are threaded amongst the rebar over the plating. I can't identify anything that looks like the cables in my pictures, and I don't know if that means I can't see the cables or if they haven't been placed yet. The concrete is poured over the cables and all the plating. Then, at some point, and I don't know what that point is, the cables are pulled tight. This is called post-tension because the tension is created after the pour. You know how cracks sometimes form in concrete? Putting tension on the cables after the pour pulls all the cracks and concrete tight. I don't know what pulls the cables and I'm not sure when that happens. Those are good questions and help me know what to ask. Let me see what I can learn. Blog readers are often extremely helpful, and now would be a good time for someone to help us out.

Julie Markham said...

David, I learned that these post-tension cables, also called tendons, are not being used in the annex roof. They will, however, be used in the west lot roof. I have edited this post to reflect my new information. I am still trying to learn about these cables, though, and hopefully I'll have a better understanding as the west lot is completed.

David said...

Great to know, Julie. This process is sure interesting.

I just checked the cam and it looks as though they are building the gable!!! Fun to watch!!!

David said...

Wow! I'm looking at the cam! There is A LOT going on this morning!!!!

Julie Markham said...

Believe it or not, I'm home from the site and should have a new post up in 20 minutes. You are right -- very exciting -- lots going on! I could have stayed for another hour just watching.